Windows Privacy Hardening Toolkit (Win 11 Pro)

<<<<<"Work in Progress">>>>

A small set of PowerShell tools to reduce Windows telemetry / tracking surfaces, revert those changes, and verify whether key privacy-related settings are currently Enabled or Disabled.

Quick Notes

• The toolkit focuses on policy keys, services, and scheduled tasks commonly associated with diagnostics/telemetry and personalization.
• Some settings can be reverted by Windows Updates, Microsoft account sync, Group Policy/MDM, or other “optimizer” tools. Use the audit scripts to confirm persistence.

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Repository Structure

├─ Windows_PrivacyHardening_GUI.ps1 ├─ PrivacyAudit_State.ps1 └─ privacy_state_export.json

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Files and What They Do

Windows_PrivacyHardening_GUI.ps1

Single WinForms GUI that contains both Apply + Revert functionality.

Key Features

• Apply tab: selectively disables privacy-impacting features
• Revert tab: restores the changes made by the Apply actions
• Create Restore Point button (best-effort; requires System Protection enabled)
• Export Current Settings button (writes a JSON snapshot you can compare later)
• Status Bar displays:
  • Elevation state (Elevated / Not elevated)
  • Process execution policy
  • User and PC name
• UAC Auto-Elevation: if launched without admin rights, it relaunches itself as admin using UAC

Main Areas It Manages

• Telemetry policies (where supported)
• Advertising ID and personalization/tailored experiences
• Activity History / Timeline policy settings
• Feedback prompt suppression
• Windows Error Reporting (WER) policy + service
• Search web suggestions policy (Bing integration)
• Telemetry-related services and scheduled tasks

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PrivacyAudit_State.ps1

Read-only audit script that reports the current state of settings as:

• Enabled
• Disabled
• (occasionally Unknown for tasks if the scheduler query errors)

Purpose

• Confirms whether privacy controls are currently active without assuming any mode
• Designed for:
  • Post-reboot checks
  • Windows Update regression checks
  • Ongoing monitoring
  • Logging and historical comparisons via JSON export

Example Usage

powershell.exe -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File ".\PrivacyAudit_State.ps1"

privacy_state_export.json

A snapshot file produced by the GUI button Export Current Settings.

What it captures

• Services:
  • Status
  • StartMode
  • PathName (if available)
• Scheduled tasks:
  • Exists
  • State
  • Enabled
• Registry values:
  • Values related to the toolkit’s privacy settings

Recommended workflow

1. Export a baseline before/after applying changes
2. Export again after updates/reboots
3. Compare files over time to detect “drift”

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How To Run

Run the GUI (recommended)

From the folder containing the script:

powershell.exe -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File ".\Windows_PrivacyHardening_GUI.ps1"

powershell.exe -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File ".\PrivacyAudit_State.ps1" -OutJson ".\privacy_audit_state.json"

Compile the GUI to an EXE (PS2EXE)

If you want a double-clickable EXE:

1. Enable script/module execution in the current session only:

Set-ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Scope Process -Force

2. Install & import PS2EXE:

Install-Module ps2exe -Scope CurrentUser -Force
Import-Module ps2exe -Force

3. Compile:

Invoke-PS2EXE `
  -InputFile  ".\Windows_PrivacyHardening_GUI.ps1" `
  -OutputFile ".\Windows_PrivacyHardening_GUI.exe" `
  -NoConsole `
  -RequireAdmin `
  -IconFile ".\safe.ico" `
  -Title "Windows Privacy Hardening Toolkit" `
  -Product "Privacy Toolkit" `
  -Version "1.0.0" `
  -Company "BladerunnerxRC"

Important: All flags must be in the same Invoke-PS2EXE command.

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Troubleshooting

“Running scripts is disabled on this system”

Launch scripts using:

powershell.exe -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File ".\Windows_PrivacyHardening_GUI.ps1"

PS2EXE won’t import because scripts are disabled

Temporarily allow it for this session:

Set-ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Scope Process -Force
Import-Module ps2exe -Force

Icon not found

Either:

• Place safe.ico in the same folder, or
• Use an absolute path, or
• Remove -IconFile entirely

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Persistence Strategy (Recommended)

1. Run the GUI and apply your chosen settings
2. Click Export Current Settings and save a baseline JSON
3. After reboot / Windows Updates, run the audit script:
   • PrivacyAudit_State.ps1
4. Export again and compare JSONs if you want a historical record of drift

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Disclaimer

This toolkit reduces common telemetry and personalization surfaces but does not guarantee “zero telemetry” across all Windows builds and configurations.

• Some features are deeply integrated and may continue to communicate depending on OS build, installed components, Microsoft account usage, or cloud features.
• Certain controls (especially telemetry level enforcement) can vary by edition and policy support, and may behave differently across updates.
• Results can be influenced by:
  • Windows Updates / Feature Updates
  • Group Policy / MDM configuration
  • Microsoft account sync settings
  • Third-party “tweaker” software
  • Security products that monitor/modify network or system policies

Use the included audit tooling to validate actual behavior on your machine and to detect changes over time.